Edsall tough
on new center

It does bother the UConn football coach, however, when his players act like they've received awards.

That's what the Edsall thought center Moe Petrus, a freshman All-American last season for the Huskies, was doing in the first practice of the 2009 season.

"Freshman All-American my (behind)!" Edsall screamed Monday. "You play like a (gosh darn) ninth-grader!" Four days later, it seemed Petrus was back in the coach's good graces. Well, almost.

"I think he's figured it out a little bit," Edsall said Friday evening after another hot, humid practice. "I didn't have to yell today, so..."

Petrus, a 6-foot-2, 288-pounder from St. Laurent, Quebec, was trying to put his little tongue lashing behind him.

"Sometimes I get ahead of myself and I had my shoes off," Petrus said. "He got upset about it. But we're past it. We've moved on."

Even without his coach's scolding, Petrus already had plenty to think about during training camp. A left guard as a freshman, Petrus has moved to center following the departure of Keith Gray.

Petrus can at least take some solace in the fact that Edsall may not have been so vocal in his rebuke if he didn't think Petrus was capable of performing at a very high level.

"People have texted me things like 'As long as he yells at you, he cares about you,''' Petrus said. "There's no animosity between me and coach, so I just come back and try to get better."

Edsall is finished yelling -- for now -- but he's not taking anything back. He still thinks Petrus has to put his first season in Storrs, which was very good, out of his mind. After all, the coach points out, there are some years when being named a freshman All-American isn't quite that prestigious.

"How many freshman are really playing?" Edsall said. "You don't find too many true freshmen or redshirt freshmen playing on the offensive line.

"You get recognized by default," the coach continued. "And Moe's not a guy who can't handle it."

Make no mistake: Petrus is one of the Huskies' top young players. And the offensive line as a whole, which features four players with significant playing experience, is one of the team's strengths.

Edsall just wishes no one would actually tell Petrus that.

"Not only out here (on the practice field) but also in the weight room we have levels of expectations for our players," Edsall said. "He's got a lot of ability and we're trying to get him to reach a level of expectation."

That level is one set mainly by the coaching staff, who Edsall claims are just trying to help Petrus "maximize his God-given ability." But they were hoping Petrus, like some players do, would take a little more initiative in that area.

"Sometimes there's kids that either don't want to push themselves that hard or they think they are but they don't get it," Edsall said. "Moe's one of those guys."